Richmond, Va. – The families of two Virginia State University students who drowned during a hazing ritual in 2013 have filed two $25 million wrongful death suits against the school and the four men who have since been convicted in their deaths.
Jauwan Holmes of Portsmouth, and Marvell Edmondson, of Williamsburg, drowned in the Appomattox River during an initiation ritual for the group Men of Honor.
Their mothers are now each seeking the $25 million compensation saying Virginia State University was grossly negligent in its duty to protect the students from harm.
They are also seeking $350,000 in damages against the four men convicted in their deaths — James Mackey, Charles Zollicoffer, Eriq Benson and Cory Baytop.
Those civil complaints were filed the day after they were convicted in Chesterfield County Circuit Court in February.
Click here to read more about the lawsuit from Richmond.com.
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